Finch is serving two consecutive 50- to 100-year sentences for the slayings of Michael Pixler, 17, and Randall Morton, 16, and four to 12 years for robbery.

Pixler and Morton were working at the Citgo gas station at 15th Avenue and 11th Street in Rockford when Finch entered, fatally shot them and stole $600 from the station.

The board’s vote was 12-0. They also decided that Finch’s next attempt at parole won’t come until 2012.

Because of the way the state’s sentencing laws were written at the time of the double murder, Finch first was eligible for parole in the mid-1980s. Each time Finch is up for parole, the review board can vote to review the case in a year or hold off for as many as three years. His last hearing was in 2006.

Rockford Register Star

Mayoral candidate has felony conviction, will not be able to serve if elected

PEORIA – General Parker, incumbent Mayor Jim Ardis’ only opponent on April 7, would not be able to serve as mayor if he is elected.

Parker, 45, is a convicted felon who was sent to prison in 1984 after being convicted on two counts of theft. According to state law, no one with a felony conviction on their record, no matter what the crime, can serve elected office.

But according to Tom Bride, executive director of the Peoria Elections Commission, Parker’s name will remain on the ballot, since the time frame for objections to the candidates running for office in April has expired. The ballots have since been certified.

Bride said anyone could have complained one week after the filing deadline, which was Dec. 15. He said his office does not have authority to remove someone from a ballot, no matter who might be on it.

Bride said had anyone objected, the complaint would have gone before the city’s election commissioners for further consideration. No one did.

City Attorney Randy Ray said his office does not get involved in the election process. He said if a complaint was made, it would likely go before the State’s Attorney’s Office.

Peoria Journal Star

Man dies after being hit by car

PEORIA – A Peoria man died Wednesday night, nearly 24 hours after being struck by an SUV while apparently trying to cross Sheridan Road on foot.

He was hit by a small SUV about 6:45 p.m. Tuesday at the intersection of Sheridan and Shenandoah Drive. The driver of the vehicle was Robert W. Carruthers, 68. He had been headed north on Sheridan and had just passed through the intersection when Renshaw ran out in front of his car, he told police.

Renshaw’s blood-alcohol level was .191 upon admittance to OSF Francis Medical Center on Tuesday, authorities said. Peoria police and the Peoria County coroner’s office are investigating.

Peoria Journal Star

Woman on way to driver’s license test crashes into building

SCHRAM CITY – An 85-year-old Litchfield woman who was planning to take her driver's license test Wednesday afternoon lost control of her car as she turned into the Secretary of State facility in Schram City.

The car plowed through the wall and into the counter of the driver's license building.

The driver, Jewel M. McFarlin, was taken to Hillsboro Area Hospital. Her husband, Lloyd C. McFarlin, 85, a passenger in the car, was not injured.

The normally busy examination station was relatively empty at the time, and none of the six people inside was seriously injured, according to Hillsboro police.